MIDDLETON — Two goals from their top scorer. Another fluky goal, plus a fourth generated by their third line.
Mix that offensive showing in with a strong defensive effort, and it’s clear to see how the Essex Tech boys hockey team prevailed over neighboring rival Danvers, 4-1, before a packed-to-the-gills crowd at the Essex Sports Center.
“We made a statement tonight,” said Essex Tech coach Mark Leonard, whose Hawks improved to 6-3-1. They’ve only dropped one of their last eight contests, outscoring their foes during that stretch by a combined 40-13.
“Danvers is a such a great program with all that tradition, are highly ranked and so well coached, and we have a bunch of Danvers kids (forwards Brian DeLisio, Teddy Tsoutsouris, Adam Leonard and Brett Granger). Put all that together, and it’s a big win for us.”
Junior captain Brady Leonard, the coach’s son, scored his team-leading 10th and 11th goals of the season for the winners. Defenseman Mason Sutcliffe’s dump-in from the right point was misplayed and fell into the net to make it 3-1 with a little over 10 minutes to play, and senior left wing Dominic Tiberii capped off the scoring with a nice lamplighter with under three minutes to play.
The Hawks limited Danvers (now 5-3-2) to just 17 shots on net, including 10 over the final two periods of play. Their physical, mobile defensive corps helped make life easy for goaltender Garrett White, who picked up his fifth win of the season.
Leonard had been concerned about Danvers’ top line (Seamus Cary, Mikey DeLisio, and freshman Owen Swanton) and their ability to pick apart defenses, but his charges were up to the task, holding them off the scoresheet.
“Our top four defensemen (Riley Sobezenski, Sutcliffe, and captains Drew Carney and Armani Booth) are very, very good. Really our top six with Cam (Casey) and Andrew (McKenna) are very good,” said Leonard. “They can move the puck, skate and are strong defensively. They showed that tonight.”
As the smaller of the two clubs, the Falcons wanted to come in and outskate their hosts and stay out of the penalty box. Ultimately, however, they got worn down and were unable to accomplish those two objectives.
“They did a good job taking away time and space with their bigger bodies,” head coach Kevin Fessette said of Essex Tech. “When you’re undersized like we are, you can’t escape: you have to constantly keep skating and your discipline has to be at a 10 — and it wasn’t. We stopped skating and started complaining much more than I’d like. We can’t afford to do that.”
Playing better in their own zone was another area that the Blue-and-White need work in, said Fessette. “Reloading high, backchecking, putting sticks in lanes … “that’s all part of it,” he said.
In a battle of Top 10 teams in Division 3, the Falcons got on the board just 2:17 in. Josh Henry slid a pass along the blue line to Jake Langlais at the left point. His shot was stopped by Garrett White, but Cooper Dunham was situated perfectly in the low slot and hammered home the rebound.
The Hawks knotted things up nine minutes later when Leonard put one home short side past goaltender Braedyn Oteri (23 saves). He then snapped the stalemate with a tick under five minutes to go until the second intermission, he jumped on a loose puck in the slot, toe dragged his way around a Danvers defender and let rip a snapshot that hit nothing but the twine in the corner of the DHS cage.
“Brady’s a scorer. He knows what to do when he has an open lane and the puck’s on his stick,” said his father.
Sutcliffe’s unexpected goal and Tiberii’s shot off Oteri’s left skate culminated the scoring in the third.
Both teams have rivalry games coming up Saturday night as Danvers plays at Gloucester (6 p.m.) while Essex Tech travels to Graf Rink to take on host Newburyport (6:30 p.m.).
Essex Tech 4, Danvers 1
at Essex Sports Center, Middleton
Danvers 1 0 0 1
Essex Tech 1 1 2 4
First period: D, Cooper Dunham (Josh Henry, Jake Langlais), ppg, 2:17; ET, Brady Leonard (Armani Booth, Jaydan Vargas), ppg, 11:15.
Second period: ET, Leonard (un), 10:08.
Third period: ET, Mason Sutcliffe (Brian DeLisio, Leonard), 4:47; ET, Dom Tiberii (DeLisio, Teddy Tsoutsouris), 12:04.
Saves: D, Braedyn Oteri 23; ET, Garrett White 16.
Records: D 5-3-2; ET, 6-3-1.
Contact Phil Stacey
@PhilStacey_SN